An Unlikely Alliance
by Keirou
Summary: Gryffindor and Slytherin, ever enemies. Can two students overcome their house rivalry to pass a set of challenges?     An AU fic starring Brenna Black and Jason Irons.


Once upon a time, at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, while reading one evening in late November, a young Gryffindor fifth year named Brenna Black overheard two older boys in her house talking. These twin brothers, now in their seventh year, had a reputation for mischief and had just returned from an expedition out of their house common room. While out, they had seen a Slytherin boy in Brenna's year, Draco Malfoy, roaming the corridors alone. Though they did not know what he had been up to, it seemed mitigating circumstances had forced them to move on rather than follow him and find out, much to their audible disappointment. Professor McGonagall had collared them both and brought them back to Gryffindor Tower with a stern lecture on not leaving the tower after curfew, also deducting points from their House for their misconduct.

Brenna stayed behind her book, thinking about what the twins had said. _He can't be up to any good_, she thought. Maybe he was planning to sabotage her friend Harry Potter. She had heard the stories from Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger and knew that Harry and Malfoy had been enemies from day one. She waited until the common room was empty, students going to bed one by one, then stuck her wand through her belt and slipped out of the portrait hole to see for herself what Malfoy was plotting.

Barely daring to breathe lest she make too much noise and attract attention, Brenna made her way through the halls. The twins had seen Malfoy in a hallway on the second floor, so they'd said, but that had been hours ago. She knew checking the rest of the school would prove just as vain a quest for the same reason. A better idea, then, was to wait in the shadows near the entrance to the Slytherin dungeon. While she'd never been there, Harry and Ron had found it in their second year. How hard could it be?

Recalling their tale, she made her way downstairs, praying with every step that Peeves the Poltergeist was busy elsewhere. She slowed as she neared the entrance hall and listened carefully, but no sound disturbed the silence of the sleeping castle save her own quiet footsteps. No sign of the poltergeist could be seen or heard...though with Peeves, Brenna knew well, that didn't mean much.

Quickly, she descended the marble staircase, eyes darting to every shadow as she crossed the hall to the dungeon entrance. A faint sound caught her ear. Was it Peeves, flying toward her? Professor McGonagall, patrolling the hallways to prevent any more adventurous students from sneaking out of bed?

Brenna didn't look back or slow down. She hurried through the doorway leading down to the dungeons and pressed against the wall, listening for any further noise. None came. She closed her eyes, focusing to remain calm through the adrenalin rush, willing her breathing and pulse to return to normal.

She proceeded down the hall, not quite sure where she was going. Harry had said the door wasn't a door at all, but a section of wall that opened with a password, similar to the portrait of the Fat Lady at Gryffindor Tower but much harder to find. That aside, she stubbornly continued on, determined to uncover and foil Malfoy's dastardly plot. Whatever it was.

After what seemed hours, she had to admit defeat and so formed a new plan. She would stake out the entrance to the dungeons themselves. As far as she knew, that was the only way in or out, so Malfoy would have to pass by to return to his common room. It was sure to work...so long as Malfoy hadn't gone back to bed already.

Halfway back to the entrance Brenna paused at a sound. She looked around but saw nothing until she noticed the rat sniffing at her shoe. Rats were a common sight at Hogwarts, both wild in the darker parts of the castle and in the dormitories as pets. Then a voice behind her made her jump.

"Wouldja look at that. What's a Gryffindor doin' all the way down here?"

The voice was male with an American accent. Brenna turned to see a Slytherin boy leaning against the wall, regarding her with a pair of calculating brown eyes under a shaggy mop of curly brown hair. He was younger than she was—by about a year—but fully two inches taller. His eyes narrowed as he studied her, and after a moment he said, "...You look familiar."

"So do you," she replied.

She had heard that accent before. The way he held himself, the look on his face as he studied her, it was all familiar. But she couldn't for the life of her recall his name. And something about the way he spoke...A year ago, maybe, during the Triwizard Tournament. Well, there had been that incident with Malfoy involving the giant squid during the Second Task. She'd've ended up in the hospital wing, but a Slytherin boy had helped her out who'd spoken just like a cowboy out of a Muggle movie. That was what finally jogged her memory.

"Irons? The Tournament, last year...Jason Irons?"

It was hard to forget Jason once you met him, if for no other reason than he was the only one in the school who spoke with an American accent. His mother was British by birth, but she'd moved to America when she was just a girl. There she'd met Jason's father, a Texan oil tycoon. Once their son had shown he shared his mother's talent for magic, however, she set her sights on getting him admitted to Hogwarts. Some distant family in Cumberland Gap had taken her son in to give him a home in the United Kingdom. Attending Hogwarts and living away from the States for several years had done very little to soften his accent or his American tendencies. He was a loner. He trusted no one, only watching out for himself, and would ally with whoever would get him closest to his own goals. A true Slytherin if ever there was one.

Jason paused a moment then nodded. "Black, that's it. Seems we've worked together before, but you didn't answer my question. What're you doin' sneakin' around down here?"

"I was...well, has Mal- I mean, I don't mean to ask...well, I do, but...oh, hell." She hated asking a Slytherin for anything, especially information about Draco Malfoy, but Jason was the most likely to answer her questions. "Has Malfoy been acting strangely of late?"

Jason gave her a faint smirk and held out his left hand. "Well, I might remember, with a little help."

She looked at him for a moment then sighed. Jason never did anything for free. She should've expected it, really. He would accept almost anything if he thought it was at least an equal trade, but he preferred information which Brenna wasn't quite willing to give. She checked her pockets but didn't find much. A rubber band, a dog-eared scrap of parchment she'd been using as a bookmark...and a small card bearing the logo of the twins' joke-shop business.

Brenna felt victory within her grasp as she pulled it out. She had intended to give her father, but if it would get her what she needed...she could always get him another one.

"Well, would you believe it? I seem to have a gift certificate for the Weasley twins' joke shop..."

Jason glanced at the card. "How much?"

"Ten Galleons."

He thought for a moment. "There a name on it?"

She made a show of checking the card. "No, I don't see one..." She held it out.

He smirked faintly and pocketed the card. "Yeah, he's been sneakin' out sometimes, lately."

"D'you know where he goes?"

Jason shrugged. "Saw him up on the second floor before," he said. "Looked like he wasn't there by chance, either."

"So he had business there." Finally, she had a lead.

"He wasn't lost, is all I'm sayin'."

Brenna nodded. But there was a chance that asking Jason where this corridor was would require another payment. She could ask him along, but there was no guarantee he'd come, or that he'd come for free. However, going without doing either would get her nowhere.

"D'you want to go check it out?" she asked. She barely trusted Jason to help her beyond showing her the way, but she really didn't trust him not to set her up if he found a better offer.

Jason looked at her, thinking, then glanced down at Big Jake. The rat was sitting by his left foot and looked up at him with whiskers twitching. He had nothing better to do, and knowledge was power. Jason preferred staying one step ahead of the game and that included one upping Malfoy if he got the chance. "Sure, why not? Let's go, Jake." The rat squeaked once and scurried along behind them.

Moving silently, the two slipped through the entrance hall and up the marble staircase with Jason in the lead. Both were on the lookout for any sign of movement in the halls. As they turned onto the staircase leading up to the second floor, Jason grabbed Brenna's collar and dragged her back around the corner. She had just opened her mouth when Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's moth-eaten old cat, meowed from the top of the stairs.

Brenna swore silently, wishing the cat would get out of the way. Jason watched her warily and remained silent. Time ticked by, marked by Brenna's heartbeat, which she was certain had to be loud enough for Mrs. Norris to hear. But if the cat could hear it, she made no sign. After an interminable while that turned out to be five minutes when he checked his watch, Jason peered around the corner. The cat had gone. He beckoned for Brenna to follow him and they proceeded carefully up the stairs. Jason checked both sides of the hallway when they reached the top. The coast was clear. After the cat, the journey went smoothly and ended in the middle of a corridor on the second floor.

"I saw 'im here," Jason said, nodding at the wall in front of them. "Dunno what he was doin'. Ain't nothin' here as far as I can tell."

It looked like any other section of bare wall in the castle and reacted as such when Jason tapped on it by doing absolutely nothing.

Brenna stepped closer to the wall, not wanting to believe it. Hogwarts was known for hidden rooms and secret passages, after all. Maybe there was one here and they just had to find it. The question was 'how'.

"He was just standing here?" she asked, putting a hand on the wall herself.

Jason was about to answer, but was cut off as a magnificent golden door replaced the dull grey stones, with a tree carved upon it in extraordinary detail, each individual leaf standing out as though they would move should a breeze blow by. There was no handle or knob, but upon the trunk of the tree were three carved words.

_Prove Your Name_

"I thought you said there was nothing here," Brenna said as she stared at the door.

Jason shrugged, eyeing it himself. "There wasn't."

"Obviously there was," she shot back, looking up at the leaves of the carved tree, then leaned in to read the writing. "Prove your name." She cocked her head slightly in confusion. "What's that supposed to mean?"

As though the door had heard her, letters formed as though written by an invisible quill; both on the leaves of the tree and below the original three words.

Jason moved in closer for a better look and read the words aloud.

"_You are part of a great, noble,  
>and powerful family.<br>How do you gain the upper hand  
>in negotiations with<br>an equally powerful house?"_

He looked thoughtfully up at them. "We both touched the wall, but this thing showed for you. It's got to be somethin' to do with bloodlines."

Brenna glanced at him then nodded slowly. It made sense. On closer examination, the letters on the leaves looked more like initials. A family tree, maybe, or something similar.

"So to get through we have to answer the question," she said.

"Probably you'll have to," Jason smirked. "You're the pureblood."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Brenna asked.

"The door showed for you," Jason pointed out. "I touched the wall too, and nothin' happened, remember?"

Brenna paused a moment, then nodded. Fair point. She looked back at the question on the trunk. "So I have to answer this?" she read the words again, the point of the question confusing her. "How do I gain the upper hand against an equally powerful house? I don't know. How is that proving my name, anyway?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "It ain't obvious? If you answer it right, you just proved yourself a real pureblood."

"A real pureblood?" Brenna repeated. "As opposed to a fake one?"

Jason frowned at her ignorance. "Some folk might call blood traitors fake, yeah."

Brenna looked back at the tree to hide her embarrassment. "Who put this here?"

Jason shrugged. "Who knows? I bet this is what Malfoy was up to, though."

Brenna perked up slightly. If it was what Malfoy was doing, he might still be inside, and if she caught him in the act... "So back to the question on the door," she said. "How would I gain the upper hand?" She thought for a moment. "Well, I guess I'd try and find something they wanted..."

"But they're just as powerful as you, says so right there." Jason indicated the last few words on the door. "What's gonna stop 'em gettin' it for themselves?"

Brenna frowned, not looking away from the writing engraved on the golden surface in front of her. "Good point. Maybe I could offer to help them? Then they'd owe me a favour."

Jason looked at her incredulously. "You gotta be kiddin' me. That's the best you could come up with?" he asked. "What if they don't want your help?"

Brenna glanced at him, irritated.

Jason couldn't take it anymore. "Oh come on!" This girl thought too much like a Gryffindor, trying to do things the honourable way all the time. "You're part of the great and noble house of Black!" He bowed to her with a flourish and came up glaring. "Think about it, what're your assets here?"

Brenna twitched at the title. "That's the 'Noble and Most Ancient House of Black' to you. I don't have anything this theoretical other family doesn't, since they're supposed to be just as powerful as me. It's like trying to get the upper hand on the Malfoys."

"Exactly!" Jason pointed at her. "So how do you do it?"

Brenna blinked, then cocked her head. Trying to get the upper hand on Draco Malfoy's family...how would she do that? Well, truth be told she'd probably start by putting Malfoy himself in the hospital wing but that didn't seem to be quite what the question was asking. "I don't know!" she said. "Nothing I'd try would work."

Jason sighed. The girl was thicker than a pair of bricks. "You're thinkin' too honourable. You gotta think like a Slytherin if you wanna get one up on the Malfoys."

Brenna gave him a rather dubious look. _Think like a Slytherin? He's got to be joking._ It wasn't a pleasant thought. "How would you do it, if you're so clever?"

Jason just looked at her. "You gotta solve it, remember? I ain't the pureblood. Besides, this was your idea."

Brenna did a small double-take at Jason's offhand statement about his heritage. It was unusual for anyone in Slytherin to make such an admission, but Jason didn't seem to care. Brenna let it go. "What if it will?"

"And what if it won't?" Jason asked. "D'you even know what it'll do?"

Brenna glowered at him, not about to admit she didn't. They both knew it anyway. Besides, he had a point. That door could do whatever it pleased if it didn't like the answer or the person answering. But stooping to the level of a Slytherin to get it open? She thought it a bit much to ask...even though she was already thinking about how Malfoy might answer.

"Blackmail them," she said, looking as though she'd just eaten a vomit-flavoured jelly bean. "Send a servant...or a house elf, no one notices house elves," she added, thinking of the Malfoys' former house elf. "Yeah, send the house elf, 'cause even if they get caught they're expendable, right?"

Even as she spoke the door swung open. Jason smirked. "You're learnin'."  
>"Thanks," she said. "I think."<p>

Cautiously, they stepped through the door, Jake scurrying along at Jason's heel. The room beyond was almost opulent. Oil paintings and tapestries of silk hung on the walls, the floor was almost entirely covered in what looked like a huge Persian rug, and oxblood-leather chairs were set in the corners. In the center was a mahogany table on which sat a beautiful old oil lamp. Brenna and Jason glanced at each other.

"There seems to be a notable lack of Malfoy," Brenna observed.

"Well done, Sherlock," Jason said, rolling his eyes.

"Elementary, my dear Watson," Brenna replied. "Nice place, but why bother with a door like that for a room like this?"

Jason shrugged. Brenna started toward the table but paused when a sound came from behind her. She and Jason turned to see the golden door swinging shut. Jason moved to stop it but too late; it closed silently. Brenna sighed and started back towards it when another sound from across the room caught her attention. She glanced over and paused.

"Hey, Irons. Look."

Jason looked. Across the room from them, a second door had appeared. This one was silver, with a pair of snakes emblazoned upon it in just as much detail as the tree on the golden door. Their scales shimmered in the light from the oil lamp, making them seem alive, their eyes solid black spheres of obsidian stone. He raised an eyebrow.

"This just gets more interestin' by the minute, don't it?"

"You're telling me."

Brenna moved for a closer look, Jason right behind her. As with the golden door, this one also bore three words, engraved between the two snakes.

_Know Your Enemy_

"Know your enemy, huh?" Jason asked, directing a faint smirk Brenna's direction that went ignored. "Good advice."

Just like the previous door, as soon as the words were spoken, more words appeared.

_Any who seek power should  
>know to think like<br>those who oppose them.  
>You must convince a Gryffindor<br>to aid you with part of  
>a plan and become an<br>unwitting accomplice to your goal._

"I think this one's yours," Brenna commented, examining the door.

"Wonder what gave you that idea."

"Probably the huge snakes on the door."

"Fair enough." He turned back to the door. "Convince a Gryffindor to help me out? Hell, that's easy enough. Find some dirt on 'em for leverage and-"

"It'd never work," Brenna interrupted.

Jason glanced at her. "What wouldn't?"

"Blackmailing a Gryffindor. They'd call you out," she said, folding her arms across her chest.

He thought about that. She had a point. Blackmail a Gryffindor? Those who weren't too noble for it to work on would just challenge him to a duel. He looked at the original three words. Know your enemy. It was easier said than done. "Maybe play 'em a game of poker, their help ridin' on the outcome." Even as he said it, he caught sight of Brenna's flat look. Off track again. Of course he was, what Gryffindor be caught dead playing cards with a Slytherin? "Or maybe-"

"Irons," Brenna cut him off again, "how would you get me to do it?"

Jason raised an eyebrow. "Get you to do it?" he repeated. "Well, I'd..." Slowly it dawned on him. "I'd tell you it'd help Harry." He grinned slightly. Now he was onto something. "Yeah, I'd tell you the contents of the package were somethin' important that someone was plannin' to use against him, or somethin' that he could use to help him, an'-"

"Irons." Brenna held back a laugh, pointing at the opening door.

He covered his surprise quickly. Of course he'd known the door was going to open just then. He drew himself up and started forward with a slight swagger. "Things like this usually have a pattern. Wonder what the next one is."

"Malfoy," Brenna said, pausing on the threshold.

"What? Nah, can't be."

She smacked his arm and pointed ahead. "Malfoy."

It was rather more Spartan than the previous room, having a few sturdy but simple wooden chairs and only torches along the walls. Across the room was another door, this one made of lead, and in front of it stood Draco Malfoy, who turned on hearing the conversation. Jason stopped where he was, eyes widening. He knew what was going to happen almost before it did.

Almost as one, Malfoy and Brenna went for their wands. Malfoy proved the quicker, however.

"_Expelliarmus!_" shouted Malfoy, and Brenna's wand flew from her hand. She froze.

As soon as Jason saw Malfoy reach, he stepped to the side to avoid getting caught in the blast and held both his hands so Malfoy could easily see he was unarmed...at least in theory. Ignoring Jake, who scuttled over to sit on his right shoe, he looked between Brenna and Malfoy a moment and sighed. "Well this is a real pants-down moment, ain't it?"

"Irons. Black. What are you doing here?" Malfoy asked, keeping his wand trained on the pair.

"That would be my question," Brenna replied. She was tense without her wand and chagrined she had been beaten to the draw. "Were you having some trouble, Malfoy, or did we just move too fast?"

Malfoy's eyes flicked from Brenna and Jason to the now closed silver door behind them and back again. They had managed to get through the first two doors, and that meant they had to be working together. How they'd found the doors in the first place Malfoy couldn't guess. Brenna was as nosy as any other Gryffindor, and Jason had a way of finding things out he shouldn't, but Malfoy was sure he'd been careful in his search for the doors. His mother had mentioned them over the summer, and Malfoy had assumed no one else knew about them. After all, they were hardly common knowledge; the only reason his mother knew about the doors was because her sister had created the first one. Family secrets were supposed to stay secret.

Now here he was, faced with the third and final door that he couldn't open, a blood traitor Gryffindor who always insisted on poking her nose in places it didn't belong, and a Slytherin traitor who had helped her get this far. His mind raced. Faced with the evidence, he had to admit that Brenna and Jason had, in fact, made it this far. By blind luck more than anything else, he was certain, but they had made it. And Brenna was friends with – or at least in the same house as, which was the same thing as far as Malfoy was concerned - Hermione Granger, who knew more pointless information than the rest of the students combined. His eyes narrowed in thought as the beginnings of an idea came to him. He would lose nothing if his plan failed, and all he'd have to do would be erase their memories should it succeed.

Malfoy took a step forward, keeping his wand trained on Brenna. Of the two, she was the more likely to try something rash. It was in her blood, her being in Gryffindor aside. "So you think you can open it, do you, Black?" he asked. "Why don't you try it?"

Brenna narrowed her eyes suspiciously and remained where she was. "Why should I? Can't do it yourself, Ferret-face?" She shot back.

Malfoy flushed at the taunt. Being transfigured into a ferret and thrown around in front of half the school was not a memory that faded easily. "Move, Black," he snapped. "Over to the door, now! You too, Irons."

Jason put a hand on Brenna's shoulder as she opened her mouth for a retort. If she'd learn to keep a lid on her temper, life would go smoother all around. "All right, all right, ain't no need for an altercation," he said before she could speak, half-steering Brenna over to the leaden door.

It took a bit of pushing, but she went with Jason, her eyes only leaving Malfoy's once she had passed him. Then she looked up at the door in front of her. It was an intimidating affair made of smooth, unmarked lead, its surface shining dully in the light from the torches. As she and Jason stopped in front of it, three words appeared, engraved in harsh Roman letters.

_Trial By Fire_

"Well, don't that sound like fun?" Jason asked, reading the words aloud. More words appeared below the original three as the colour of the metal darkened.

_Only true followers of the  
>Dark Lord may pass within.<br>Prove yourself and answer.  
>What was the name of the<br>Death Eater who was arrested for  
>the murder of Jacob Wright?<em>

Brenna and Jason blinked at the question and each other. Followers of the Dark Lord? The idea gave Brenna chills. Questions swirled in her mind, most of them going unvoiced. What had they gotten into? What was on the other side? Was Malfoy doing this on his father's orders? "Who's Jacob Wright?"

Jason shrugged at Brenna's question, eyeing the door. Both he and Brenna could feel Malfoy's eyes on them. He also knew Malfoy still had his wand trained on them, but he didn't turn around. "Musta been some enemy of Whatsisname," he answered Brenna, giving Lord Voldemort's usual moniker in the wizarding world a very irreverent spin. "You haven't heard of him?"

"Not a word." Brenna shifted slightly. Having Malfoy with a wand aimed at her back made her shoulders itch.

Jason frowned thoughtfully. "Wonderful time to be without that Hermione kid."

Brenna said nothing, thinking quickly. The doors so far had been tests, with twists in their nature designed to keep out unwanted visitors. The second had not been too hard, but the first had taken some trickery. And a good bit of help from Jason, even if she didn't want to admit it. Her eyes narrowed and she lowered her voice, leaning closer to Jason. "Wait a minute. The last questions were tricks of some sort, this must be too."

Jason glanced at her. The first door hadn't been much of a trick to his mind. Many of the older Wizarding families, like his mother's, thought that way. The second, however...the second had forced him to think outside the box, with some help from Brenna. He nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Yeah.

"Why would Voldemort want to know the name?" Brenna asked. "He must already know it."

Click. Jason's eyes widened slightly. "It's a test. He's tryin' to weed out his enemies."

Brenna went still. Of course. If what lay beyond the door was for Voldemort and his followers only, he would make sure Aurors and the Order of the Phoenix could not enter.

"An Auror would cite the name and the date of conviction," she said, thinking of Kingsley Shacklebolt. "And a member of the Or-"—she caught herself mid-sentence. Jason might be all right for a Slytherin (she could at least pay him to keep his mouth shut) but she'd be damned if she let anything about the Order slip around Malfoy—"of the resistance would likely just give the name." Her mind flashed to Mad-eye Moody. With his record, it was entirely likely that Moody made the arrest himself.

Jason nodded in agreement. "So...do Death Eaters have code names or somethin'?"

Brenna shook her head absently. The answer had to be something simple, something obvious given enough thought. The last door's test had been knowing your enemy, knowing how they thought to turn it to your advantage. The first door's test had been proving your bloodline, though she still couldn't understand the method it used to do so...her eyes went wide, an adrenalin thrill running through her. "No, no, that's not it," she said in a whisper.

Jason glanced at her. "You got somethin'?"

Her eyes met his in an intense stare. Surely he understood. It was just like being in an old pureblood wizarding family. "Why _would_ they ask for the name?" she asked. She knew Jason wasn't that slow. He had to realize it. "Would they want to admit one of theirs got caught? It's like being in a pureblood family." _Come on, Irons, you're not that thick..._

Realization dawned. "They disowned him when he got arrested," he said. "Kicked him out."

Brenna grinned faintly and looked at the door. "So...it wasn't a Death Eater who killed Jacob Wright." The door slowly swung open, revealing a dark room beyond. Brenna couldn't stop a surge of victory. She'd figured it out – well, she and Jason if she was being honest – and she'd done it before Malfoy.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes. They'd figured it out. It rankled that Brenna, of all people, found the answer before he did. He tightened his grip on his wand. "Inside. Now," he ordered. Brenna and Jason glanced back at him, not moving. Malfoy glared, taking a step forward. "Move!"

Brenna glanced at Jason to find him already looking at her. Their eyes met, and a silent conversation was played out in a brief moment. Brenna's mouth quirked in the ghost of a smile as Jason's eyes flicked down to Jake, who ran a tight circle at his feet and scurried off, and the two exchanged the slightest of nods before turning to face Malfoy fully. Time to turn the tables.

Malfoy flushed slightly, raising his wand as if in preparation for a spell. "I said move!" he snapped.

"Why don't you just make us?" Brenna shot back.

Jason took a step forward, drawing himself up to his full height and adding in a cowboy swagger reminiscent of his hero, American Muggle actor John Wayne. "I gotta admit, I'm gettin' mighty tired of being bossed around myself," he said, looking Malfoy straight in the eyes. "I don't much take to other folk tellin' me what to do."

Malfoy glared at him, hiding his confusion. "What do you think you're doing, Irons?" he asked. The boy had been in Malfoy's house for four years now and had never acted this crazy, this much like...well, like a Gryffindor. "Has Black been rubbing off on you?"

Jason continued walking, slowly approaching the other boy. He had to keep Malfoy's attention on him. It was a gamble, he knew, but he had no other option if this was going to work. He held Malfoy's eyes, saying "Anything goes wrong, anything at all- your fault, my fault, nobody's fault- it won't matter. I'm gonna take your head off." It was a slightly paraphrased quote from one of Jason's favourite movies, _Big Jake_, and he delivered the line exactly as John Wayne had.

"And just how do you propose to do that, Irons?" Malfoy asked. Jason had no wand and was too close to dodge if – no, _when_ – Malfoy cursed him.

Jason opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Brenna's voice echoed through the room.

"_Stupefy!_"

A jet of red light hit Malfoy from behind, sending him face first to the floor, his wand falling from his hand. Jason looked down at him and shrugged. "Like that."

Brenna walked over with Jake on her shoulder, sticking her wand through her belt. She reached up to scratch the rat behind its ears. "Thanks for the help, Jake. I owe you one." Maybe rats weren't as stupid as they seemed after all. Jake had pushed Brenna's wand within easy reach, making the plan possible.

Jason met her eyes with a faint smirk, pleased that the plan had gone off so well. Brenna returned it. It seemed Jason had a little Gryffindor in him. She looked at the open door behind him. "D'you want to see what's in there?" she asked after a moment

"May as well find out what this sidewinder was after."

Brenna nodded and started forward cautiously. If Voldemort or his supporters had set this room up, there was no way of knowing what was inside.

As soon as they set foot in the room, torches sprang to life on the walls. Within were rows upon rows of shelves, filled with old books and scrolls, figures and statuettes, bottles full of liquid in every colour imaginable. Brenna and Jason stared, amazed. Slowly, they started forward, Brenna taking the lead as her curiosity got the better of her.

"Don't touch anything!" Jason said as her hand drifted towards one bottle containing a translucent lavender liquid.

Brenna jerked her hand back, feeling like she'd just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I guess we know why there were tests to get in here, now," she said.

Jason nodded, moving to investigate the books. They, like the rest of the room, were covered in dust, but their titles were still legible. "These're family histories," he said. Brenna glanced over, then moved to join him. She'd seen her family tree on the wall at home, but a book? "Look, there's one for just about every big-name old magic family out there..." He paused, one book catching his eye. He pulled it out and let it fall open.

"I thought you said not to touch anything," Brenna said, raising an eyebrow.

Jason ignored her, staring at the book in his hands. "This is...the Caesar family line," he said. Brenna just looked at him. He glanced up at her. "My mother's family."

"Oh..." Brenna was faintly surprised. Jason had said he wasn't pureblood, but for him to come from this kind of family...the possibility hadn't occurred to her. But then, it really wasn't something most people thought about, was it? Moving to look over his shoulder she asked, "Are you in there?"

"I doubt it," he answered, flipping through the yellowed pages to the last entry. "Nope. Last one in here's Calpurnia. That's my grandmother. Looks like Mom was in here too," he pointed to a name that had been scratched out, "but I guess news got back that she'd been disowned for marrying a Muggle."

Jason had no idea why he was telling her all this. After all, he hadn't known Brenna very long and this was only the second time they had worked together. Still, after all what had happened...he had to admit he would never have gotten this far without her. The first door's requiring a pureblood notwithstanding, he might have been stuck at the second door if she had not been there. She had shown him how to think like a Gryffindor, as he had shown her how to think like a Slytherin. And having to work together for the final door and against Malfoy...he could see what attracted people to Gryffindor House. The adrenalin rush he had felt while distracting Malfoy could be addicting.

Brenna met his eyes as he looked up at her. Jason had never been this open with anyone, as far as she could tell. He usually kept to himself and played his hand close to his chest, but she was starting to understand him, she thought, if the face-off with Malfoy was any indication. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. If she was being completely honest, though, if it hadn't been for Jason things wouldn't have gone near as smoothly. Mind you, she thought, I wouldn't have gotten through the first door if it hadn't been for him. It had taken the help of a Slytherin used to thinking that way for her to find the answer that opened the first door. She had to admit, being sneaky and backstabbing was attractive...especially when the target was Malfoy. She smiled and shrugged.

"Well, if it's any consolation, I know I won't be in the Black family history," she said. "Dad was a bit of a rebel himself."

Jason chuckled, closing the book and putting it back on its shelf. "Let's see what else we got in here."

"A load of potions," Brenna nodded at the shelves full of bottles. "I can recognize a few...I think that one's Polyjuice," she said, pointing at a thick, greyish, lumpy liquid in a squat, square bottle. "And that one's probably a sleeping potion of some kind," she indicated a fluted bottle half-full of a pale blue-purple liquid.

"What about this one?" Jason asked, leaning closer to examine a small vial of clear liquid.

Brenna moved for a better look. "I don't know, I'm not Hermione. It might be Veritaserum, judging by the size of the bottle." Jason looked intrigued, which was a warning sign. Brenna continued, "Or it could just as easily be water. It's hard to tell without a label or something to test it with."

Jason shrugged and continued looking around. Brenna joined him, making note of the potions she could identify easily. She didn't know if any of them were still effective, but it didn't stop her pausing for a bit to admire a golden liquid in a fancy etched bottle. After a few minutes' exploration, she turned for the door. Jason, not too far away, fell in behind her. As they passed the first shelf of potions, he paused for a moment.

"Jason, put it back," Brenna said, without so much as looking at him. Maybe she was starting to understand him.

Jason glanced at her. When had she started using his given name? Well, that aside, it was a fair cop. He grinned wryly and took the small vial Brenna had supposed to be Veritaserum out of his pocket, placing it back on the shelf. "Boy, you are startin' to think like me," he said, following her to the door.

Brenna chuckled, then looked down at Malfoy who was still lying unconscious on the floor. "So, what should we do with him?"

Jason studied the unconscious boy for a moment. "He still out cold?"

"Yeah."

Jason grinned. "I say we doodle on 'im," he said, producing his wand from his right sleeve. "_Accio_ quill and ink."

Brenna glanced at him, then ducked as a quill and ink bottle flew into Jason's hands. She looked back at Malfoy as Jason uncorked the ink then slowly grinned herself.

"No, wait, I've got a better idea. Give me a hand."

Jason glanced at her. Well, he'd gotten this far by trusting her, hadn't he? A little more couldn't hurt. He put the cork back in the ink bottle and stowed it and the quill in his pocket, then helped Brenna drag Malfoy back into the hallway. For doors that had shut without so much as a crack, they pushed open easily from the inside.  
>"What's this idea of yours?" he asked as the golden door silently closed and faded back into the wall.<p>

She looked at him, eyes dancing mischievously. "Leave the quill and ink here and let Peeves find him. He can't blame us for drawing on him that way."

Jason couldn't help a laugh. It was devious and mean. He liked it. "We'll make a Slytherin outta you yet," he said, pulling the items out and dropping them beside Malfoy. He left the cork in; Peeves had never needed help with pranks before.

Brenna giggled, hoping Malfoy wouldn't have time to get rid of the markings before she saw him next. "Let's go before Peeves catches us, too," she said, still grinning.

Jason looked over at her, also smirking, and offered his arm. Brenna's grin widened as she took it, and they started off towards the stairs. There they wished each other a good night and parted ways, Brenna going back to Gryffindor Tower and Jason to the Slytherin dungeon.

The next morning at breakfast, Malfoy was notably absent from the Slytherin table. Brenna, scanning for signs of him, met Jason's eyes across the Great Hall. He smirked faintly and Brenna hid a smile. Sometimes, the best partners were those that came by pure chance.


End file.
